Ekiti APC Gov Primary: Six Aspirants Withdraw Over Allegation Of Favouritism

By Ayodele Oni

Six Governorship Aspirants of the All Progressive Congress, (APC), in Ekiti State, announced their withdrawal from the contest on Thursday, just as the Primary Election was about to commence.

Apart from their sudden pull out, early morning, unconfirmed reports say that the election has been shifted but the Secretary of the Committee handling the exercise, Mr Victor Olabimtan, doused the rumour.

Those that withdrew from the contest include former Minister of Works, Senator Dayo Adeyeye, former Commissioner of Information in Lagos State, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele and five others.

Their withdrawal may pave the way for the emergence of the former Secretary to the State Government, Mr Biodun Oyebanji as winner of the poll.

According to a statement on Thursday, others who withdrew are a former Governorship Aspirant, Kayode Ojo; Demola Popoola; Femi Bamisile; former House of Representatives member, Bamidele Faparusi; and Afolabi Oluwasola.

They claimed that the Governor is attempting to impose former Secretary to the State Government, Biodun Oyebanji, as the Ekiti APC governorship candidate.

They also alleged that the Primary Election Committee consisted of loyalists of Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, who before now, rooted for Oyebanji.

Also some members of the party staged  protests against the process of the Governorship Primary which they said has been compromised.

A statement from them reads, “The seven aspirants herein received with rude shock and dismay the purported list of local government election committee and ward election committee made up solely by party members and political appointees that had before now openly endorsed the candidacy of Biodun Oyebanji the immediate past secretary to the state government.

“It is on record that the government of Governor Kayode Fayemi has given its unwavering support to the candidacy of Biodun Oyebanji, it is common knowledge that the Governor and most appointees of the governor are openly rooting for and supporting Biodun Oyebanji’s aspiration to become the flag bearer of our great party.

“What is more disturbing is the fact that a simple glance at the names of the persons appointed as members of both committees would reveal that it is made up of appointees of government, who are all supporters of a candidate in the primary election they are appointed to superintend on.

“The seven candidates herein are loyal, faithful and committed party members who are sincerely concerned about the chances of the party in the forthcoming 2022 governorship election where an imposition is allowed to override a democratic primary election for determining its flag bearer.

“We request that both the Local Government Election Committee and Ward Election Committee that were constituted on the list already in circulation be disbanded and replaced with names that would reinforce internal democracy and uphold the aims and objectives of the party.”

In a statement by the Secretary of Election Committee, Mr Olabimtan stated “The Governorship Primary election of Ekiti State fixed by the National body of the APC slated for today, Thursday January 27, 2022 will hold as scheduled in all the 177 wards of Ekiti State.

“The Ekiti State APC Governorship Primary Election Committee wishes to assure the general public that a level playing field that will guarantee fairness, openness and transparency has been adopted by the Committee.

“It is an incontrovertible fact that every member of the appointed Electoral Officers for today’s primary election is a bonafide member of Ekiti State APC.

“You will recall that during the stakeholders’ meeting between the Committee, aspirants and others yesterday, this issue was raised and exhaustively discussed, and to reinforce confidence in the process, it was agreed that each aspirant should nominate 20 people each to be part of the process.

“All the aspirants took advantage of this window of opportunity and submitted the list of their nominated electoral officers.

“All the submitted lists have been added to the existing arrangement, assigned into various wards and local governments. They have all been incorporated.

“We hereby call on all well-meaning APC members in Ekiti State to go to their respective wards to fully exercise their voting right without fear or intimidation. The adopted option A4 is the most transparent form of election.”